Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Welcome Two General Surgeons to PLHS
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System welcomes General Surgeons Greg Gerrish, MD and Jacob Schaeffer, MD. They join Kendra Kamlitz, MD and staff at Prairie Lakes General Surgery Clinic.
Dr. Greg Gerrish received his medical degree from the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. He completed a residency in General Surgery at Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis, Minnesota. A son of Drs. Ed and Catherine Gerrish, Dr. Greg Gerrish is a Watertown native and is excited to serve the community. He and his wife, Alison, have a daughter and are expecting a boy in December.
“My approach to care is very individualized,” said Dr. Gerrish. “I am excited to be back in the town where I grew up and it has been my dream to be a surgeon to serve the community that once served me.”
Dr. Schaeffer received his medical degree from the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. He completed a residency in General Surgery at Gunderson Health System in La Crosse, WI. Both Dr. Schaeffer and his wife grew up in the Huron area and have three young children. He enjoys being active outdoors with sports, hunting, fishing, and spending time with family.
“My family and I are excited to move to Watertown and be involved with the community,” said Dr. Schaeffer. “I believe in innovative and comprehensive care across the broad spectrum of general surgery services.”
Drs. Greg Gerrish and Jacob Schaeffer both utilize minimally invasive technology when possible to optimize recovery. They diagnose and treat common conditions at the Prairie Lakes General Surgery Clinic located at Mallard Pointe; such as, gall bladder disorders, hernias, breast diseases, thyroid diseases, colon cancer screening and treatment, dialysis access, and gastroesophageal reflux. You may schedule an appointment at the Prairie Lakes General Surgery Clinic by calling 605-882-6850. A referral is not required to schedule an appointment.
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Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Annual Run Raises Funds for the Caring Club House
On June 11, 2016 Prairie Lakes Healthcare System held the 20th Annual Hospital Hill Run. Over 170 runners and walkers participated to raise money for the Prairie Lakes Caring Club House. Two thousand dollars was generously donated to the Caring Club House, located in Watertown, SD. Shown presenting the check are members of the Hospital Hill Run Committee: Kris Munger, Tom Beaudry and Dr. Dan Reiffenberger. Others pictured are Linda Page, Caring Club House Caretaker, and Alison Gilbertson, Executive Director of the Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation.
The Prairie Lakes Caring Club House exists to meet the hospitality needs of out-of-town patients, families, and caregivers receiving services through Prairie Lakes Healthcare System. Prairie Lakes has grown into a regional medical center, and because of this, people from a 10 counties come to Watertown for medical care. As part of our mission to provide compassionate care, we are proud to offer his special home to help ease the burdens families and caregivers may face during their medical experience.
Funded and furnished completely through community support and donations, the Caring Club House is a not-for-profit, community-based project of the Prairie Lakes Healthcare Foundation, with support from Prairie Lakes Healthcare System. Annual operating expenses are approximately $17,000. All donations are welcomed, appreciated and are tax deductible as allowed by law. If you would like to make a donation, please call the Foundation office at 605-882-7631.
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Tuesday, July 12, 2016
Artwork within PLHS Campus updated by Watertown Graduate
Recently new artwork in the main areas of the PLHS Campus have been hung. The photographer is a WHS graduate, Kyle Neuberger, of Franklin Arts based in Sioux Falls, SD.
Kyle stated, "Growing up in Watertown, before I knew art was my calling, I was amazed by Terry Redlin. I would stare at pictures that my parents had around the house, not to mention everywhere else they were. And they were everywhere in Watertown. I marveled at the exquisite detail and the stories in his images. Little did I know, his influence slowly seeped into my creative spirit to give me the confidence to tell my own stories through my own art and photography.
To come full circle and have my own artwork displayed in the very same space as Terry Redlin is so humbling. To have artwork in a place where healing is imperative means the world to me. Watertown is my home town and I am so excited and proud to be able to display art where I was first inspired as a child growing up. I cannot thank Prairie Lakes enough for this amazing opportunity."
The artwork chosen were photographed in the eastern side of SD and reflect the culture of the PLHS service area. Below is a sampling of a few pieces. 
In the Radiology Department
Main Hospital Lobby
Hallway going to the Cafeteria
Second Floor between Material Child Health and Dietitians
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Wednesday, June 29, 2016
New & Improved CT Scanner at PLHS
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System (PLHS) is proud to announce a new Toshiba Aquilion Prime 80 row, 128 slice equivalent CT scanner is operational in the Radiology Department.
“The CT scans performed by the Radiology Department at PLHS are increasing. Staff performed 6,070 CT scans June, 2015 – May, 2016 compared to 4,737 CT scans June, 2014 – May, 2015,” said Jill Fuller, PLHS President and CEO. “The innovative technology of the new CT scanner improves the CT scan experience for patients and provides staff and physicians a high quality image to interpret.”
Returning patients will notice substantial improvements in the CT scanner suite and how long they’ll be asked to hold their breath. With the old CT scanner, patients held their breath for up to 30 seconds at a time. The new system cuts that time by up to 75%.
Patients with metal implants will no longer have compromised exams due to the metal in their body. Toshiba’s SEMAR metal artifact reduction software utilizes a sophisticated reconstruction algorithm to reduce artifacts caused by metal while improving visualization of the implant and surrounding bone and soft tissue structures.
The new CT scanner comes equipped with the ability to shut off the x-ray beam when it passes over sensitive organs like the eyes, thyroid and breasts while maintaining the diagnostic integrity of the study. Other improved qualities include a larger patient opening, a 660 pound weight capacity, improved pediatric imaging with an interactive screen, and a lower radiation dosage by 40-70% on every exam.
“Thanks to PLHS improving technology by purchasing the CT scanner, my staff can offer the very best to our patients. Enhanced imaging and notably faster scans increases effectiveness in emergency and trauma situations,” said Tom Beaudry, Radiology Director. “The public is increasingly concerned with radiation exposure, especially with CT scans. Prairie Lakes’ patients now have peace of mind knowing they are receiving the lowest dose possible.”
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Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Welcome Clinical Dietitian, Sara Berreth
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System welcomes Sara Berreth, Clinical Dietitian to Prairie Lakes Nutritional Services. Berreth will assess and work with patients in the hospital and can also accept appointments for one on one or group sessions.
As a clinical dietitian Berreth has experience helping patients with a wide variety of goals. Her special interests include employee wellness, nutrition support, fad diets, and malnutrition. She is a South Dakota native, growing up and now living again in Volga. She enjoys hiking, snowboarding, kayaking, camping, traveling, and spending time with her husband, family, and friends.
“I am excited to join the team at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System and continue the career I love,” said Berreth. “I enjoy helping individuals meet their nutrition goals through education, critical thinking, and problem solving. I look forward to working with the wonderful community Prairie Lakes serves!”
Individuals may receive counseling from Berreth during their stay at the hospital or by appointment on a variety of topics; including, food allergies, weight management, sports nutrition, and diets for health conditions like diabetes and cancer. Appointments are available by calling 605-882-7874.
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Friday, June 17, 2016
Volunteer Receives Celebrate! Award
Watertown Community Foundation's 2016 Celebrate! Adult Award Winner was nominated by two people. We are proud the adult celebrate! winner is Nyla Bergan (center). Retired teacher Nyla Bergan chairs the noon sandwich ministry through the Salvation Army, sews hospital gowns and cleans catheter bags for Prairie Lakes Hospice patients and is busy serving her community and church in other ways as well.
The Watertown Community Foundation awards a $1000 grant to an outstanding volunteer who is selected through a nomination and selection committee process. The winner then designates what non-profits receive the grant funds. In the photo she is with recipients of a $500 Foundation grant each, Mary Beth Stinson (left), representing Salvation Army's sandwich ministry; Julie Sampson, Prairie Lakes Hospice - Director of Home, Health Hospice and Home Connection and Jan DeBerg, Executive Director Watertown Area Community Foundation. The Foundation has sponsored the Celebrate! award for 10 years.
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Tuesday, June 14, 2016
20th Annual Hospital Hill Run Results
The 20th Annual Hospital Hill Run on June 11th featured a 5K run, 5K walk and a one-mile walk for all ages. Proceeds from the Hospital Hill Run benefit the Prairie Lakes Caring Club House.
The annual fundraiser honored Tim Page, long time Prairie Lakes Pharmacy Director who passed away after a courageous battle with cancer. Tim was a supporter of Hospital Hill Run, opening the race with firing the starting pistol for nineteen years. To honor Tim his father, Rex Page, started the twentieth annual race on Saturday.
Fastest 5K male runner was Gabe Syhre with a time of 17.34 minutes. Fastest 5K female runner was Erika Zink with a time of 22.11 minutes. Read all results
The 20th Annual Hospital Hill Run was organized by its committee, Kris Munger, Tom Beaudry, Dr. Dan Reiffenberger, Jessi Eidson and Jennifer Devine. Sponsors include Brown Clinic, Glacial Lakes Orthopaedics, Drs. Dan and Sarah Reiffenberger, Consulting Radiologists Limited, Prairie Lakes Healthcare System, Sanford Clinic - Watertown, Watertown Public Opinion, Innovative Pain and Procedural Center, and the Community Blood Bank.
The Prairie Lakes Caring Club House offers a home away from home for out of town patients, outpatients and family members with loved ones being treated at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System.
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Monday, May 16, 2016
PLHS Ranked Top Twenty in the Country
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System is among the Top 20 Rural Community Hospitals in the nation as determined by iVantage Health Analytics. The Top 20 winners were recently announced by the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) at an awards ceremony during NRHA’s Rural Innovation Hospital Summit May 12th.
The determining factors for the top 20 rural community hospitals were based on nine indices: inpatient market share, outpatient market share, population risk, cost, charge, quality, outcomes, patient perspectives and financial stability. NRHA’s Top 20 Rural Community Hospitals Winners are the highest ranked of the aggregate scores across these nine pillars.
“There are over 2000 rural community hospitals in the United States,” said Jill Fuller, President and CEO of PLHS. “To be recognized in the top 1% of rural hospitals nationwide is an honor. This award recognizes the quality of our services and the amazing group of people who are committed to our healthcare mission.”
PLHS serves a ten county region in eastern South Dakota and western Minnesota including seventeen outreach clinics. PLHS provides care at its hospital in Watertown as well as specialty services that are uncommon in similar rural settings. The improvement of services to meet the needs of the region is a continuing focus of PLHS. PLHS has seen growth despite a challenging healthcare environment nationwide.
PLHS growth statistics from the past five years:
- PLHS’ net revenue increased by 10%
- Prairie Lakes Rehabilitation Department visits increased by 15%
- Prairie Lakes Radiology Department visits increased by 18%
- PLHS patient visits to a specialty service increased by 36%
- PLHS’ employed physicians increased by 125% (8 to 18)
- PLHS’ outreach clinics increased by 143% (7 to 17)
The top 20 rural community hospital winners, in alphabetical order, are:
- Aurora Lakeland Medical Center Elkhorn, Wis.
- Aurora Medical Center Manitowoc County Two Rivers, Wis.
- Bay Area Medical Center Marinette, Wis.
- Bozeman Health Deaconess Hospital Bozeman, Mont.
- Childress Regional Medical Center Childress, Texas Delta County
- Memorial Hospital Delta, Colo.
- Gordon Hospital Calhoun, Ga.
- Hawkins County Memorial Hospital Rogersville, Tenn.
- Hill Country Memorial Hospital Inc Fredericksburg, Texas
- Parkview Huntington Hospital Huntington, Ind.
- Pomerene Hospital Millersburg, Ohio
- Prairie Lakes Healthcare System Watertown, S.D.
- Ransom Memorial Hospital Ottawa, Kan.
- Sevier Valley Medical Center Richfield, Utah
- Spectrum Health Big Rapids Hospital Big Rapids, Mich.
- Spectrum Health Pennock Hastings, Mich.
- St Joseph’s Hospital Breese, Ill.
- UPMC Bedford Memorial Everett, Penn.
- Valley View Medical Center Cedar City, Utah
- Yampa Valley Medical Center Steamboat Springs, Colo.
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Thursday, May 12, 2016
PLHS Celebrates Hospital Week
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System celebrates their staff during Hospital Week! National Hospital Week celebrates hospitals and the women and men who support the health and well being of their communities through dedication and compassionate care from the heart.
Take this year’s National Hospital Week as an opportunity to thank all of the dedicated individuals – physicians, nurses, therapists, engineers, food service workers, volunteers, administrators and so many more – for their contributions.
Activities, awards, and events coinsided with Hospital Week. View photos from our service awards celebration:
5 years of service to PLHS
10 years of service to PLHS
15 years of service to PLHS
20 years of service to PLHS
25 years of service to PLHS
30 years of service to PLHS
35 years of service to PLHS
40 years of service to PLHS
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Monday, May 02, 2016
PLHS Volunteer Reaches a Milestone
Volunteers at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System make a difference in the lives of patients and their visitors every day. Today we recognize the contributions of Karol Gruenberg.
Karol has contributed twenty years of volunteering to Prairie Lakes Hospice. For the past five years she has made plastic canvas cross artwork for the Patient and Family Spiritual Resource Packet. Her donation immediately became a well treasured item among patients; hanging in windows at nursing homes, patient homes, and hospital rooms. Karol recently reached a huge milestone, she completed her one thousandth cross. One thousand regional families have found comfort through her crosses. Each cross takes Karol about three hours to make; meaning she has spent three thousand hours making these treasured crosses. Thank you, Karol for your gift of time and passion.
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Monday, March 28, 2016
High School Senior Gives to the Caring Club House
A few years ago, Nicole Goens and her family from Wisconsin, Minnesota and Wyoming all stayed at the Prairie Lakes Caring Club House while family received care at Prairie Lakes Hospital. Both Nicole and her mother stated, “It was a God-send and a blessing to have something so close.”
It seemed only fitting when Nicole, now a senior at Deuel High School, selected the Prairie Lakes Caring Club House as the recipient of her senior project. Nicole presented four “quillos” to the House to be given to patients who stay there. She donated them in memory of her grandmother, Joan Goens. What a blessing they will be!
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Friday, March 18, 2016
Dialysis Stats at Prairie Lakes
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System operates three dialysis units in Watertown, SD, Sisseton, SD, and Ortonville, MN. The job of the kidneys is to get rid of waste and excess water in the blood and help restore the chemical balance of the body. If a kidney is damaged, a person would need dialysis to "do the job" of a kidney. Dialysis can also quickly extract toxins or drugs from the system.
Prairie Lakes Kidney Dialysis Statistics:
| Watertown | Sisseton | Ortonville | |
| Year opened | 1973 | 1998 | 2004 |
| Number of patients dialyzed since opening | 495 | 148 | 84 |
| Average treatment time | 3.5 hours | 3.5 hours | 3.5 hours |
| Average years a patient is on dialysis |
5 years (national average) |
5 years (national average) |
5 years |
| Total treatments since opening | 78,624 | 23,868 | 13,728 |
| Average number of patients per year since opening | 12 | 9 | 8 |
| Total number of dialysis hours since opening | 275,184 | 83,538 | 48,048 |
- Other Dialysis Stats:
- Average person has blood volume of 5 liters
- During the average dialysis treatment, the blood volume is cycled 21times through the dialysis machine. In other words, 105 liters of blood is cycled through the machine during an average treatment.
- The average patient dialyzes 156 times a year, and spends 546 hours per year on dialysis.
Prairie Lakes Kidney Dialysis Staff:
Ortonville Staff
Sisseton Staff
Watertown Staff
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Tuesday, March 08, 2016
PLHS Designated Blue Distinction® Center+ for Maternity Care
In an effort to help prospective parents find hospitals that deliver quality, affordable maternity care, Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield announced that Prairie Lakes Healthcare System has been designated as one of the first hospitals to receive the Blue Distinction® Center+ for Maternity Care designation, a new designation under the Blue Distinction Specialty Care program.
Nearly four million babies are born in the U.S. annually, making childbirth the most common cause of hospitalization. This new Blue Distinction Centers+ for Maternity Care program evaluates hospitals on several quality measures, including the percentage of newborns that fall into the category of early elective delivery, an ongoing concern in the medical community. Compared with babies born 39 weeks or later, early term infants face higher risks of infant death and respiratory ailments such as respiratory distress syndrome, pneumonia, and respiratory failure, among other conditions. These babies also have a higher rate of admission to Neonatal Intensive Care Units.
In addition, hospitals that receive a Blue Distinction Center+ for Maternity Care designation agreed to meet requirements that align with principles that support evidence-based practices of care, as well as having initiated programs to promote successful breastfeeding, as described in the Baby-Friendly Hospital Initiative by Baby-Friendly USA or the Mother-Friendly Hospital program by the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services (CIMS) through its “Ten Steps of Mother-Friendly Care.” The program also evaluates hospitals on overall patient satisfaction, including a willingness to recommend the hospital to others.
Blue Distinction Centers+ for Maternity Care, an expansion of the national Blue Distinction Specialty Care program, are hospitals recognized for delivering quality, affordable specialty care safely and effectively, based on objective measures developed with input from the medical community. To receive a Blue Distinction Centers+ for Maternity Care designation, a hospital must also meet requirements for cost efficiency.
“Maternal Child Health staff at Prairie Lakes Healthcare System and Watertown’s OB-GYNs cohesively provides quality care to both mother and child,” said Jill Fuller, CEO. “Prairie Lakes’ introduction of free childbirth, breastfeeding, and sibling preparation classes made fundamental education available to any expectant parent regardless of their ability to pay. Expectant parents in our region have quality care and educational services available before, during and after childbirth.”
Blue Cross and Blue Shield (BCBS) companies across the nation have recognized more than 650 hospitals as Blue Distinction Centers+ for Maternity Care. Hospitals recognized for these designations were assessed using a combination of publicly available quality information and cost measures derived from BCBS companies’ medical claims.
Prairie Lakes Obstetric Services
For more information about the Blue Distinction Centers for Specialty Care program and for a complete listing of the designated facilities, please visit www.bcbs.com/bluedistinction.
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Tuesday, February 09, 2016
Prairie Lakes Introduces a Cutting Edge Procedure
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System is one of the first facilities in South Dakota to implant a UroLift System, a less invasive option to relieve symptoms of an enlarged prostate.
Dr. Henri Lanctin, Urologist, implanted the first UroLift System on Monday, February 1st. The UroLift System is a new treatment option for Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (enlarged prostate) patients who are looking for an alternative to drugs or major surgery. Typically patients can go home on the same day of the procedure and see rapid symptom relief.
Over 500 million men suffer from Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia. Having an enlarged prostate is not associated with prostate cancer and is not life threatening, but can affect the urinary tract. Symptoms of an enlarged prostate can impact the quality of life and may result in the loss of sleep. The UroLift System is the first and only treatment that does not remove prostate tissue and does not negatively impact a man’s sexual function.
“Urology conditions can be a sensitive subject, but our team is committed to provide you with confidential, state of the art care,” said Jill Fuller, CEO. “The UroLift System is a treatment advancement that demonstrates our dedication to innovative technology that improves the quality of life of our patients.”
Prairie Lakes Healthcare System is a leader in regional healthcare for northeastern South Dakota and western Minnesota. You may schedule an appointment with Dr. Lanctin by calling the Prairie Lakes Urology Clinic at 605-882-6810.
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